'Insightful . . . beautifully paced . . . authentic’ The Irish TimesParis, 1939: The pavement rumbles with the footfall of Nazi soldiers marching along the Champs Elysees. A young writer, recently arrived from Ireland to make his mark, smokes one last cigarette with his lover before the city they know is torn apart. Soon, he will put is own life and those of his loved ones in mortal danger by joining the Resistance...

Spies, artists, deprivation, danger and passion: this is a story of life at the edges of human experience, and of how one man came to translate it all into art.

Sunday Express Book of the Month

Praise for Jo Baker's LONGBOURN:'Intoxicating'Guardian'Engrossing'Sunday Times'Audacious' New York Times

Reviews

“
Skilful . . . daring . . . an extraordinary story
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The Guardian

“
[It is] the unexpected Beckett that is on show here. Baker pays tribute to a man who joined the French Resistance, narrowly escaped the Gestapo, fled south on foot and went into hiding, and was eventually awarded the Croix de Guerre
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The Times

“
A fascinating fictional account of Samuel Beckett's wartime years
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IAN RANKIN

“
Beautifully written, empathetic and unflinching, it is very, very good
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Daily Mail

“
vivid and well-wrought
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Times Literary Supplement

“
Insightful . . . beautifully paced . . . authentic
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The Irish Times

“
In this worthy successor to Longbourn, she [Baker] skillfully captures Beckett’s world, the rhythms of his bare-bones prose, and the edginess of his point of view.
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Publishers Weekly

“
Taking its title from Beckett's most famous play, Waiting for Godot, Baker's historical drama deftly explores the psyche of one of the greatest writers of the Twentieth Century.
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